NFL Rush: Guardians Rising
by Nobel Six
Summary: (Co-Written with Tndsecretoperative) When desires gets in the way of duty, only a true Guardian can stand up to the challenge. A story of betrayal and angst, revolving around the decisions of three new Guardians. They're actions will determine the outcome of the upcoming series of battles against their greatest threat yet.


"Training today?"

The young man looked over to his friend, a tall and pale teen with ragged brown hair. They both walked down the long hall, retaining a deep silence. In reply, the young man sighed and shrugged. "Probably," he replied.

The friend gave a groan in response, rolling his green eyes. "You've got to be kidding me, Tony," he heaved his words, as if lead coated his lungs. "They ran us ragged yesterday too," he groaned, rolling his shoulder with a wince. "My shoulder still aches."

Tony, a shorter teen of more vivid complexion, only sighed. "Look Ian, when you go for something, you have to _want _it," he said, scratching his head of blonde hair and wiping his blue eyes of weariness. "If you _want _to stay with the Guardians, you have to work hard at it."

Ian rolled his eyes and glanced back over to Tony haphazardly. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be," he said, nudging his friend as a joke. "But even you can't deny that it was tiring."

"Tiring and _frustrating_," Tony added, stretching his back and rolling his ankles in his steps. "It was hard. "Doesn't mean you have to whine about it."

Ian chuckled. "Look at you, trying to put me down for my behavior," he commented, crossing his arms and twisting his upper body for stretching. "You have to admit though, for a guy who doesn't play much football, I worked pretty hard."

Tony leered back over to Ian before stretching the corners of his lips into a smile. "True… You did well, you freckle-faced weirdo," he complimented him, slapping Ian on the back and laughing. "When do you think OT is going to call us out for more training?"

"Not a clue," Ian responded, though he was immediately corrected moments later by yelling from down the hall. "I guess the time is now."

Stopping their conversation, they stood up and started making their way down the hall. Different thoughts were going through Tony and Ian's heads as they walked through the dimly lit hallway.

Ian was thinking, _I hope this isn't difficult._

On the other hand Tony was thinking, _let's do this!_

As they neared the end of the hallway the lighting grew steadily brighter, till they were in a fully lit room, and in the center was the floating head of the AI _Over Time_, or OT for short.

"Welcome Guardians in training." he greeted them. "You both have showed determination and toughness so far. But I fear that hard times are ahead." he stated

Clearing his throat Ian asked, "What do you mean by 'hard times' OT?" Ian questioned, also getting a slight nod of approval from Tony at the question.

Next to OT a hologram of a robot materialized. The robot in question was slightly taller than the average adult; it had a black dome with purple glowing eyes. Next to that appeared another robot. This one was exactly the same size of an average adult. The bot had orange stripes around different parts of the body, and would have almost had a human head, if it wasn't for the glowing blue eyes.

"Gentlemen this is 'Wild Card'," he said implying to the bot with purple eyes, "His goal is to destroy the NFL through whatever means necessary," he said and then stopped to give the two trainees time to think.

Tony gathered his thoughts first and asked, "Are we supposed to stop him?" he asked. Ian muttered something under his breath which caught OT'S eye.

"Do you have something to say, Ian?" he questioned the trainee.

"Yes, I do actually. How _can _we stop him if we don't have our armor up to full strength?" he calmly replied.

Tony cleared his throat and said, "I agree with Ian, OT. How can we beat him?"

OT looked slightly amused as he replied by stating, "You don't have to fight him at the moment. He went into hiding after the Super Bowl. But as the new Football season kick off on September 9th... he most certainly will be ready to strike by around then." he replied to Tony and Ian's question.

Now it was Ian's turn to speak, "So we will be full out Guardians by then?" he asked eagerly.

"Maybe, maybe not," he replied. After pausing for a second he added, "I believe that if you both continue working hard and commit yourselves to being Guardians that you will succeed in being Guardians." he stated calmly.

"So what do we do till then?" Ian asked curiously.

OT hesitated for a second before saying, "You both are going to Canton, Ohio." At this being said both Tony and Ian looked very startled.

Ian looked OT in the eye and coldly stated, "California is my home. It's my parent's home. How are we supposed to move to Ohio?"

/\\/**RUSH**\/\

Not too many days thereafter, the two boys were attending the local high school in Canton. Strapping their packs on and gearing up for the day, the two met each other on the road for their first day. Ian glanced over to Tony, an apathetic look on his face. "How'd he convince you to move?" he asked.

Tony chuckled and gazed up at the sky in deep thought. "My dad got a new job offer in Canton that paid more than the one he had," he explained. "Call it coincidence, but I'm sure OT is behind it. What about you? Did your dad get a new get a new job here?"

"No," Ian chuckled under his breath. "My mother did."

"Ah, that's right."

It wasn't much longer before they entered their homeroom class. The teacher of the class looked aside to them and raised a brow. "Ah, you two," she said in a rather drab tone, "Do come in." She looked over the remainder of the class and nodded. "Class, this is Ian and Tony. They will be joining our class for the remainder of school."

Greetings went around as the two found their seats among others. Ian watched as the clock ticked by. There were only a few more minutes in homeroom before first period. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see an African-American kid giving a smile. "You're pretty new here, I can tell," he said with a chuckle. "You look like you could be good though. Why don't you come out with the rest of us? We'll toss the pigskin around."

Ian and Tony turned around at the football reference and blinked. "Do I know you?" Ian asked, raising his brow.

"Oh, that's right," the boy muttered. "The name's Ishmael. Just call me Ish."

Tony looked over to Ian before turning over to Ish. "And who is _the rest_?"

"That might be me," a red-haired girl interjected with a laugh. "I'm Ash, his friend. The others aren't in this class, but you'll see them if you come out to practice."

Ian blinked, glancing over to Ash and suddenly blushing when she laughed. "Um… yeah, sure," he muttered beneath his breath.

Tony sighed and shook his head. "What my sordid friend means to say…" he said, punching Ian in the shoulder, "is that we'll be there, without a doubt. His parents don't come home from work till later in the evening. My mom won't mind if I stay out for a while."

"Then be there," Ish said, giving a bright smirk. "Right after school."

"Sounds like a plan," Ian said, a smile tugging at the edges of his lips. "You can count on it."

/\\/**RUSH**\/\

After what could only be called a really boring first day, Ian and Tony were making their way down the hall that lead towards the school's football field.

"So Tony, how do you think the practice will go?" Ian questioned.

"Should be a challenge. I mean, we don't know how the competition is going to be," Tony replied with a hint of nervousness edging into his voice.

Ian, in order to change the subject, asked curiously, "So what position are you going to try out for?"

Tony looked at him and replied, "Either Corner Back or Safety. I mean it's, easy to score with the offense, but why not protect your teams End Zone? But I tell you, I plan to celebrate if I make a big play," he confidently stated. Then he made a motion like jumping up to swat away a pass. "How 'bout you Ian?" Tony asked.

"Might stick to the position I have always played, Fullback." he quickly replied.

Tony looked at him and asked, "Why go for Fullback? I mean they rarely touch the ball, except for short, and Goal Line situations." he stated.

Ian chuckled as he replied, "Because I get to block," was his answer.

The two stopped talking then as they had reached the doors that opened to the outside, and then to the practice field. Upon stepping outside they noticed that practice was already in full swing, with the Quarterbacks throwing passes and warming up their throwing arms. Tony spotted Ish on that line, but their new acquaintance was too busy practicing to meet their eyes. Tony looked to the right and noticed one kicker warming up their leg. After that was complete the kicker picked up a ball and drop kicked it through the Goal Post with yards to spare.

"Nice kick!" Tony yelled positively at the kicker. The kicker heard them and turned in their direction, and both Ian and Tony were shocked to see that the kicker was Ash!

"Thanks," she replied with haste before returning to practice kicking.

"Damn, I had no idea she played," Ian said to Tony.

"Well now you know," was all he said.

Suddenly the coach blew his whistle calling everyone to huddle up. Once everyone was in the huddle he said, "Alright it's almost time for another year of Bulldog football!" he yelled to great response. "Well, in case you don't know, we have two new hopefuls on our squad this year," he said motioning towards Ian and Tony, "So let's see what they got." Turning to Tony he asked, "What position do you want to play?"

"Corner Back, Coach. It's the position I have always played," he stated confidently.

"Alright then. I will put you in a one on one situation with two different Wide Receivers," turning to his right he said, "Ish get out there and get ready to throw," Ish sprang up from his position and headed out. "Tony you will be covering our speedy Wide Out, Troy." At that being said, another player with jet black hair jumped up and started heading towards the field.

But before he reached it he leaned close and whispered to Tony with great confidence, "Not going to hold back, so try to keep up." Tony, without being told to get up, sprang up and ran towards the field.

Troy took his position, and Tony took his in front of him. "Hike!" yelled Ish and dropped back to throw. Troy tried to just run straight by him, but Tony crashed into him in a full out sprint, effectively knocking him to the turf, and the ball being no were close when it came down.

"Nice hit Tony, but let's see how you cover instead of hit this time," Troy stated. Tony nodded and retook his position, and Troy did the same. This time, when the ball was hiked, Tony let Troy get out in front of him. Tony looked over his back and saw the ball coming in fast. As Troy turned to catch it, that's when he made his move. Tony jumped with everything he had, and swatted it into his chest and secured it as he crashed to the turf. Troy looked shocked at what he had just seen, but once Tony had gotten to his feet he started doing a little dance. Everyone but Ian and Troy started laughing at him.

"Why are you laughing at him?" Ian angrily asked one of the tall Linemen.

"It's not funny," he responded, "He's doing the salsa dance that the 49ers' Corner Carlos Rogers did when he picked off a pass for Victor Cruz. You see, the salsa is Cruz's touchdown dance, and Rodgers did the dance when he stopped him. Hence, Tony doing it now. By the way, names Tua. Ash told me you might be coming," he said before continuing to laugh.

/\\/**RUSH**\/\

"Practice today wasn't so bad."

Ian blinked and looked up from his homework, chuckling at Tony. He had been replaying the moment when he blocked Troy's catch—jumping to the side dramatically, swatting his hand at the air, and doing a little salsa afterward. Now though, Tony was relaxing up against the tree in his yard.

"I suppose not," Ian mused, jotting a few math problems down before setting his homework aside. Whatever was left wasn't much, and he'd finish it later. "It was a bit of a surprise, but not bad at all. You danced that salsa for five minutes."

Tony chuckled and sat at the bench next to Ian. "To be fair, it was only four minutes," he said gleefully. "It was kind of weird though, wasn't it? They immediately picked us out for football players."

Ian shrugged apathetically. "Maybe they're experienced enough that they can tell?"

"You do know that they're not that much older than us? They're in the same grade as us," Tony retorted. "I think something's fishy."

"Mm… fish."

"Wrong kind of fish, Ian."

"Uh… right," Ian muttered, blushing in embarrassed. "They're an interesting bunch though, no?"

"Yeah," Tony muttered. "That Troy kid is interesting. He's got speed and he's agile. He must get a lot of passes," he mused, scratching his cheek in thought. "Then there's Ish. Quite the all-rounder, if you think about it. What do you think, Ian? Is there anyone who pops out in particular for you?"

Ian thought back on the people they had met and shrugged. "Well… There's Tua. He's silent and stoic. And then, you know, there's Ash. A girl playing football; who'd have thought?"

Tony shrugged. "She's an interesting one. She's got a good kick though, I'll say that."

Ian chuckled. "Yes, she's quite the girl," he said. His comment of the red-head earned him a leer from Tony and Ian sighed. "I mean, it isn't very often you see a girl playing football," he corrected himself, blushing and looking away.

Tony blinked, putting a few pieces together and smirking. "Aw, you're smitten!" he teased Ian, patting his back. "I didn't think you got like that with girls, man. And with the spicy reds too?"

"Shut up," Ian conceded defensively, looking away.

Looking across the front porch in utter silence, the two said nothing until their silence was broken from a call down the street. "Speak of the devil," Tony whispered to Ian, receiving an jab in the side as Ash came running up.

"I was wondering where you two went to," she said with a cute giggle. "You ran off before we could invite you guys."

"Invite us to what?" Ian asked, intrigued by her sudden arrival.

"Oh, we were just going to hang out at the football Hall of Fame. You haven't been there yet?" she asked them. They both looked at each other and shook their heads. "Then you simply must come! It'll be a great experience."

Tony looked over to Ian, who appeared to be zoning out and trying to hide a blush, and he decided to speak up for the both of them. "We'd love to come!"

"Then what are you sitting around here for?" she asked, turning around swiftly and beginning to walk. "That means follow me."

Ian was the first to get up, followed by Tony who followed soon behind. Tony looked over to his friend and jibed, "Eager as ever, are we?"

"Shut up!"

Tony laughed down the next block while Ian stayed back with a blush.

/\\/**RUSH**\/\

A dark figure muddled around in his domain. Giving a bit of a groan, he looked up at a holographic projector before him. "Bring up the teams," he gave the order, lighting the room with thirty-two symbols; those of the corresponding thirty-two NFL teams.

"The first game of the season… the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Raven," the dark figure mused, laughing darkly under his breath. "This time… the Ravens."

The figure turned away, the holograms disappearing in blotches of light. "Soon, the world will see my return. Wild Card is on the rise!"


End file.
